BARAKO BULL UPSETS ERSTWHILE UNBEATEN ALASKA

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BARAKO Bull gave Alaska a dose of its own defensive pressure to pull off a man-sized 85-78 upset victory over erstwhile unbeaten Alaska Wednesday in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Denok Miranda scored a game-high 21 points he spiked with an early flurry and a dagger of a jumper in the stretch, while RR Garcia scattered 10 of his 18 points in the fourth in pointing the Energy to a bigger victory than their breakthrough win over Kia last Sunday.

Despite the loss, Alaska’s first in seven outings, it still clung to the lead. But this one should rankle the Aces going to their last four eliminations games.

For its part, Barako Bull enhanced its own chances of making the 10-team playoffs after improving to a 2-5 slate, ahead of 1-6 Kia, which was battling San Miguel Beer later in the evening, and winless Blackwater (0-7).

“I just have to hand it over to the players. They came out ready to play,” said winning head coach Koy Banal. “We didn’t do anything extraordinary. With regards to the gameplan, we just stayed focused. We knew we cannot afford to relax, to stop moving. We just had to push our activity level a notch higher just to keep up with them.”

Calvin Abueva finished with his fourth double-double of the conference with 16 points and 13 rebounds to go with seven assists. But the five shots he missed included two in the endgame where he also had one of his seven turnovers that cost Alaska dearly.

Those endgame boo-boos also took the wind out of an Alaska uprising that saw it fight back from as much as 33-54 deficit and to within four points thrice in the fourth period.

The Aces were still within 73-79 when Miranda came up with his elbow jumper which Garcia followed up with three straight points to give the Energy an 84-73 cushion, time down to only 20 seconds.

“Kung may Abueva ang Alaska, kami may Denok,” quipped Banal. “Yung energy niya inside the floor and off the floor, si Mick (Pennisi), si William (Wilson), si Chico (Lanete)… everybody’s contributing.

“It’s hard with the kind of materials we have, but everything is possible to those who believe. Mixed with hard work it’s possible.”

Rookie Jake Pascual, who led the 87-71 win over Kia last Sunday, wound up with 12 points and nine rebounds while Lanete, Intal, Wilson and Carlo Lastimosa led those who did their part for the Energy.

Mostly, it was about defense.

Barako Bull limited Alaska to just a 30-for-76 clip from the floor and forced the Aces to commit 20 turnovers. The Energy also pulled off five steals, two more than their foes.

The kind of pressure Alaska showed in a 69-56 victory over Blackwater last Friday, when the former made up for a 29-for-87 field shooting by holding the Elite to a dismal 23-for-76 clip overall, hardly affected Barako at all.

It was only in the third period that Alaska’s offense picked up just when Barako Bull’s flagged.

The Aces went 8-for-12 from the field and had Vic Manuel scoring nine of his 15 points, while the Energy only made five of 19 tries, fuelling the former’s drive to within 54-65, going to the final quarter.

A swirling 9-2 spurt even put Alaska within 63-67 and JVee Casio’s triple to cap his 13 points and Eric Menk’s charity kept the Aces within 71-75.

Each time, however, Barako Bull had an answer.

In a preview of things to come, it was Barako Bull which dominated the first half, sustaining a charge that netted it a 49-31 bulge at the turn.

Miranda already had 16 points anchored on a perfect 6-of-6 field shooting while fellow starter Pascual added 10 to spearhead the Energy’s break from the last deadlock at 20.

Alaska’s shooting woes from the Blackwater game seemed to have spilled over to this one and even its vaunted defense was rendered useless by a Barako Bull team which came fully prepared.

After repeatedly disrupting Alaska’s triangle offense by preventing most entry passes to the post. The Energy also shook off some early struggles against the Aces’ pressure defense by spreading the floor well and issuing quick passes to move the ball around.

The first half numbers provided concrete proof of an impending role reversal.

Alaska made just 12 of 42 field tries and committed nine turnovers while Barako missed just 17 of 37 tries from the floor.

Casio, who averaged just 6.7 points in the first six games, already had 10 at the half and Abueva chipped in nine.

Sonny Thoss, who missed the last two games due to plantar fasciitis, also played out his role as starting center.

All those did little to prevent Barako Bull’s charge, a glimpse of which was had right in the opening quarter when the Energy matched the Aces’ pace and even took a 20-18 edge after the first 12 minutes. (NC)

The scores:

BARAKO BULL 85 – Miranda 21, Garcia 18, Pascual 12, Lanete 10, Intal 8, Lastimosa 7, Wilson 6, Hubalde 2, Pennisi 1, Salvador 0, Salva 0, Marcelo 0, Paredes 0.

ALASKA 78 – Abueva 16, Manuel 15, Casio 13, Hontiveros 8, Jazul 8, Menk 5, Banchero 4, Exciminiano 4, Baguio 3, Thoss 2, Eman 0, Dela Rosa 0, Bugia 0, Dela Cruz 0.

Quarterscores: 20-18, 49-31, 65-54, 85-78

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